I found this on the paddlesurf.net web site , pretty relevant reading considering how fast this sport is growing and the amount of peolpe taking it up who have never surfed before. It was writen by John Ashley.

Paddle In Peace: Respect Your Prone Brother

Brewer, over at the SB paddle blog has a little piece about finally having to tell some local paddlers to mind their manners in the surf. I've been hearing some buzzing about tension in the water around our parts- so I thought I'd take an opportunity to put my feelings out there. Here's a little piece from an upcoming project I'm working on. You'll see it in June in its complete form- but for now, this piece seemed appropriate:

It’s a sad reality that all is not rainbows and unicorns in the surfing family. As stand up paddle surfing becomes more and more popular, the prone surfing population has become increasingly vocal about their disdain for us, their upright brothers. The days of open fascination have begun to give way to open confrontation or at the very least the insidious “stink eye”. And, frequently, they’ve got a point- some of us have been pigs.

The increased mobility and ease of wave catching can transform even the mellowest surfer into a wave-eating beast. I’ve watched two stand up paddlers take over a spot, endlessly looping from peak to channel, plundering every wave that even hinted at breaking and generally pissing off everybody in the lineup. Including me, a fellow stand up surfer! Unfortunately, the victims of this bad behavior transfer their ire onto the entire SUP community and the bad blood spreads from break to break.

There is good news though. There are stand up paddlers who have what I call “special immunity”, these are the guys who through their actions and force of personality are able to stand up surf almost anywhere. These surfers practice, without even knowing it, a code of surfing ethics that is more than a set of rules. It’s a mindset, a way of being.

Here are my suggestions to help build harmony in the line up. Practice these and develop your own special immunity.

1. Paddle through not out: It’s much more difficult to get upset at a moving target. Look at surf spots as targets of opportunity and hit them as you’re moving through. Don’t pull up in the parking lot, eyeball the main event peak and paddle straight out to it. Remember, you’re just playing through, so move along.

2. Charity: Give away a lot of waves. Sit down on your board and purposefully take yourself out of the action. You don’t need to make a big show of it, in fact the quieter you are, the more “in the know” you seem, the more of an impact this action will have.

3. Competence: Know your limits. If you are a beginner you should surf the worse, most abandoned, empty waves in your county. If you can’t control yourself or your board, you’ve got no reason to be near others. Surfers respect competence, ride the wave cleanly, pull out and finish the wave correctly. These little things, in the eyes of the knowledgeable, tell them all they need to know about you and how you look at surfing.

4. Never call anybody off of a wave: Vocalizing never helps, it only labels you as the loudmouth. And a stand up loud mouth is the worst kind of loudmouth. Instead, encourage prone surfers to take off in front of you. Trust me, you’ll get plenty more.

5. Fill the holes: As you paddle through, look for surfer-voids. Now fill them. Easy as that, bounce from hole to hole and you’ll never have a problem.

These are the guidelines I’ve tried to live by in my paddling life; they’ve served me well. Like all guidelines they are flexible, use good judgment, keep your cool and if all else fails…. paddle away. Good luck and happy surfing!
Posted by John Ashley at 9:25 PM

I'm only new to the sport myself but being born on the Gold Coast I can just see what is going to happen especially on our precious point breaks , if newbie’s aren’t brought into the sport with a good code of ethics and respect.

Similar things happened when Kite boarding and tow in surfing came to the Gold Coast, it was completely unregulated and basically both got banned until clubs were formed and a code of practise was enforced.

Respect is the key.

Rob

Fantastic article and so true ! After surfing for 20yrs and coming from a completely surf background i have been very worried about sups getting in the wrong hands and just being an absolute menace and danger at surf breaks I always try to give suping a good vibe,im worried if kooks start taking these big beasts in crowded surf ! ( Kooks means anyone on any surf craft not knowing what there doing in crowded surf) just my 2cents worth.

Hey Hilly was that you out there at Trigg this arvo with the newb?
Saw a red board and thought it was you? The other bloke looked like he was a bit tippy?
Totally agree with what has been said in regards to ethics.
I like to always smile, say gday to everyone and hang back because the amount of waves you get on a SUP,
is twice as much as if your on a shortboard or even a longboard, and thats not trying!
Miller and I have been scanning the coast for breaks that cant usually be surfed.
We have had some great success! Just the two of us sharing waves and having a blast. There is no need to SUP crowded breaks to show off.
The other night we decided to go night SUPing. The waves were very average, the tide was a bit low and the bank a bit straight. But it was still fun because we had it to ourselves (along with the sharks) and there was the occassional wave that had a nice take off and a rush down the line.
Get out there and just have fun

This is what I worried about is going to spread , this is a couple of threads from the realsurf.com website:-

forum.realsurf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=285444
forum.realsurf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14603

You have to wonder what is wrong with the general surfing population that they are so easily freaked out by anything new or different. You will read exactly the same comments about boogie boards, longboards, skis, sailboards, kiteboards ... Maybe it's all that grom abuse they were subjected to.

Kiteboarding is possibly worse when they get upset about the angle you fly the kite, the brand of kite and the colour of your boardies.

I fully agree with the sentiments in all these surf etiquette posts. But, they're all written from the point of view of the lone SUPer sharing waves with the prone surfers. I wonder how it will all work when there are a majority of SUPs. It's going to be kind of hard for 6-8-10-12 SUPers to gently leave set waves for the prone guys.

There were 6 SUP out on Saturday and we outnumbered the prone surfers for most of the time I was out. All 6 were only together for a short time and people dispersed having had enough fun or paddling off to distant breaks. It seemed to work pretty well for everybody out there.

Bad behaviour has been a constant in my 30+ years in the surf. You always get wave hogs. You always have to dodge errant boards. I guess the consequence of getting clobbered by a SUP are greater. To date it's easy to avoid crowds. We'll see what happens after this summer. (Actually I tell a lie. Surfing Bells mid-week in the 70's was just perfect fun. Plenty of waves for everybody and good fun and vibes all round.)

My suspicion is that SUP will grow flat out for a while and then people will realise that wind and SUP don't really go together all that well and the boards will be relegated to the side of the house along with the wally windsurfer.

I wonder how many times this kind of topic will come up over the next few years.

Its all good talking about bans and stuff that might happen but the chances are they will never happen in SUPing. The only reason there are some bans in kiting is because there is a slight danger to the public on the beach but when you look at supin the dangers are minimal the real only risk is to another surfer and those risk are risks that are there everyday SUP ers or not. I think local rule will take care of most of the points as there is not much chance of a SUP er going out at burleigh and catching every wave with out the locals telling him to stop it( politely of course).

There are things we can do to help and i will make sure that every board i sell to people i tell them the do's and don'ts and fill them in on some basic rules.

I looked at those other fourms and and all i got out of it was narrow mindedness and i have no time for that shti.

Hey Piros have you made up your mind on a board yet? looks like some good waves this weekend, should be some good SUPin going down around the place.

Jacko

And also, wear a legrope when SUPsurfing in populated breaks...

(I saw a guy without yesterday late afternoon in scarbs in front of the "rendez vous" , I was going to offer a spare one I've go in the car but he paddled away...)

Man said...

Hi guys, I'm am new to SUP and i believe that this is a good topic because this afternoon i was down at Currumbin Alley just watching some SUPers and i noticed one guy on a big blue and white board and a blue wetshirt (don't know if he goes onto this site) who would drop in on other surfers every wave he could get.

So i think there should be a line drawn here.

One word... KOOK!

Greenroom said...

Man said...

Hi guys, I'm am new to SUP and i believe that this is a good topic because this afternoon i was down at Currumbin Alley just watching some SUPers and i noticed one guy on a big blue and white board and a blue wetshirt (don't know if he goes onto this site) who would drop in on other surfers every wave he could get.

So i think there should be a line drawn here.

One word... KOOK!

Are you calling me a KOOK?

Brooko said...

Man said...

Greenroom said...

Man said...

Hi guys, I'm am new to SUP and i believe that this is a good topic because this afternoon i was down at Currumbin Alley just watching some SUPers and i noticed one guy on a big blue and white board and a blue wetshirt (don't know if he goes onto this site) who would drop in on other surfers every wave he could get.

So i think there should be a line drawn here.

One word... KOOK!

Are you calling me a KOOK?

Umm i dont think, (am sure ) Grenny is calling you a kook ! Wouldnt he be talking about the guy dropping in, why would he be calling you a kook ?

Yeah? Why would I be calling you a kook?
If anything, Brooko is the kook

I hate you Oliver

Im dobbing on you Brooko